


Porcelain Heart

by tattoosanta



Series: Alternate Universes [9]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Chronic Pain, Emotional Hurt, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, heart stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 19:50:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6342742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tattoosanta/pseuds/tattoosanta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seijuurou had always been told to take care of his heart, for he never knew who might come along and break it. He had always thought he listened to the advice well, until he ended up alone in his room one night nursing a heart as fragile as porcelain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Porcelain Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Weird heart AU, because why write the chapter story I have when angst?  
> The basic idea of this AU is that the heart is an object as well as an organ, and the object can be broken and torn apart.  
> Now you know~
> 
> Enjoy my terrible thing.

Seijuurou had always been told to take care of his heart, for he never knew who might come along and break it. His mother had warned him against selfish people who would steal the pieces of himself and never give them back, and cautioned against giving such valuable things away. He always thought he had listened to her well, and never purposefully gave pieces of himself to others. Except, apparently, the many people who had taken from him anyway. 

Now, he sat alone in his room. It was late, and he had found it nigh impossible to find rest. The large manor was silent, save for the gentle ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner of the dark room. The staff had been sent home for the weekend, and his father was out on a short business trip until the beginning of April, so he was alone. 

Alone, and gingerly holding the broken mess he called his heart. It was small, and had many holes where people and events had ripped pieces out. Once, it was likely a beautiful, shining, and healthy object to behold, but now… 

It was as fragile and tender as porcelain. One touch by the wrong hand, and it would surely shatter. Not that the broken mess he was cradling felt much better. In fact, he often wondered if he himself could break the last piece and if it would make the pain go away on many occasions. He had never once tried, purely out of fear. 

The gentle chiming of the clock scared the redhead out of his thoughts. He carefully set his heart on the bed and stood up to go to the window. There was an encompassing sense of loneliness beginning to creep in and add to the existing pain, and he couldn’t help the hot tears that pricked at the corners of his eyes. 

“...I need to go to sleep.” He roughly wiped the tears out of his eyes and off his cheeks and lay down on the bed. It would take him a long while to get to sleep, and the sleep would be restless, but he eventually did manage to close his eyes. 

 

\----------

 

Morning came far too quickly for Seijuurou’s liking. He turned off his alarm and sat up sluggishly to wipe the sleep out of his eyes and attempt to wake up fully. It would be a slow day, being a Sunday during a break, and he could do as little as he wanted. 

Once he had sufficiently woken up, he shuffled to his desk and gingerly set his heart in its box. “If Midorima is coming over like he wants to, he absolutely can not see this…” It would just cause too many problems for both of them. 

He spent most of his morning avoiding acknowledging the growing pain in his chest. He ate a granola bar for breakfast and decided to pass the time playing violin in the music room. He didn’t even hear the door open and close, and the calling of his name from downstairs over the music. 

Despite trying not to think about it, the pain began to build up and become unbearable. Seijuurou closed his eyes and held on too tightly to the bow, his notes beginning to screech as the hairs dragged heavily over the strings. 

Eventually he had to stop. When he did, he finally noticed Shintarou’s figure standing in the door, and felt the hot tears that were streaming down his cheeks. He quickly put the violin down and shakily rubbed at his eyes, then turned away. “I didn’t hear you come in…” 

“The door was unlocked, so I let myself in.” Shintarou said quietly and adjusted his glasses. “You really need to start locking the door behind you when you get home from school and your staff isn’t home, you know. Something bad could have happened to you last night.” 

The redhead forced on a smile and a quiet laugh and shook his head. “Nobody tries anything here. The fear of their life being ruined by my father far outweighs the temptation to break in and steal whatever they please.” 

“Regardless,” Shintarou continued to nag, “you should still lock the door. Burglars aren’t the only people you should be worried about.” He sighed when Seijuurou just shrugged and stepped inside the room, his stern look softening into worry. 

“That’s not the only thing I’m concerned about, though…” He continued further into the room and stopped just behind Seijuurou. “I have never heard you screech that badly while playing. Is everything alright?” 

“Everything is fine.” Seijuurou mumbled, despite his hand reaching up to clutch at the fabric of his shirt. “I was just holding the bow too tightly, that’s all.” 

Shintarou frowned. He could tell something was wrong, with the way the shorter boy was standing like he was about to collapse at any second. His voice sounded pained, which was worrying in it of itself. “You’re always so meticulous, though. Why would you hold the bow too tightly?”

Seijuurou grit his teeth. He could feel himself begin to shake slightly, and his mind began to race at a thousand miles per second. The tears he had been working so hard to hold back began to spill over again, and the pain intensified once more. 

“I don’t know!” He shrieked finally, dropping to his knees and clutching at his chest. “I don’t know, just leave me be! I’m fine!” 

Shintarou froze for a second, and it took his mind a moment to get up to speed. Only when the sound of Seijuurou’s sobbing reached his ears did he do something. He moved so he was in front of the redhead and put his hands on his shoulders. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing!” The smaller boy wailed and shrunk back from the green haired boy’s touch. “I’m fine! There’s nothing wrong with me!” Even though he said that, his breathing was ragged and he was slowly curling in on himself in pain. 

“Akashi…” Shintarou sighed quietly and retracted his hand. “Are you hurting somewhere? What’s going on?” His voice was soft. He didn’t want to cause any more pain than was already there. 

Seijuurou shook his head, continuing to sob. Any words he could have said were lost, the pain and his emotions taking over completely. The longer they sat there, the more hysterical he became. 

Shintarou paused for a moment, thinking. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” He stood and left the room quickly. He felt bad for leaving, but the idea he had was far too intriguing not to follow. If his hunch was right, he could help more than he hurt. 

He made his way into the redhead’s room and looked around. “If I were him, where would I put it…” His attention was turned immediately to the desk, where a beautiful, small wooden box sat at the edge. “That must be it.” 

He picked up the box gently and carefully opened it. When he saw the broken heart inside, he felt a twinge of pain in his chest. “So this is what he’s been hiding all these years… No wonder he’s in pain right now…” 

He closed the lid of the box and put it gently in the pocket of his shirt. He made his way back to the music room to Seijuurou, who was still kneeling on the floor sobbing. “...Akashi, I think I know what’s wrong.” 

Seijuurou stiffened and turned his head to look at Shintarou. When he saw the small bulge in the taller boy’s shirt pocket, his eyes widened. “No…” He choked the word out, his voice cracking and weak. “P-Please… put it back…” 

“Why did you hide it for so long?” Shintarou asked quietly as he kneeled in front of the redhead. “How long have you been hurting quietly?” 

Seijuurou shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know…” It had been years. At least seven, if he was remembering correctly. He just didn’t want to tell Shintarou that, for fear of getting hurt again. “A… A while…” 

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” The green haired boy asked, a worried expression fixed on his face. 

“I thought… I thought I could fix it…” Seijuurou hiccuped and reached up to wipe the tears from his cheeks. “I didn’t want to bother anyone with it… and I still don’t…” 

Shintarou almost rolled his eyes, and put his hand on the redhead’s shoulder. “...Well, I’m here to help you. You’re a mess, and so is your heart.” He pulled the little box out and held it with his free hand. “You can’t fix it by yourself, and I can’t make you accept my help, but I don’t want to see you in pain any more.” 

Seijuurou sat quietly for a moment, trying in vain to calm his breathing. “What… What can you do to help?” He had been convinced he had to do everything himself, but the look Shintarou was giving him swayed his resolve. He hadn’t realized it earlier, but he wanted the help more than anything else. 

The taller of the two took a deep breath. He had been mulling over the thought for a while, waiting for the right time. This situation wasn’t exactly the “right time”, but it was now or never. His nerves were beginning to act up, and he figured he had better say something soon or forever hold his peace. 

“I could…” He swallowed hard. “I could give you a piece of my heart, to help you heal yours.” 

Seijuurou, trying to process the statement, stared blankly at his companion. It took him a short while to completely understand what had been offered to him. “You… You don’t mean to say…” 

“Only if you accept.” Shintarou cleared his throat. “It might not be what you want--” 

“I accept.” Seijuurou cut Shintarou off quickly despite the difficulty in speaking. It came out squeaky and broken, but he didn’t care. At least until he remembered what the offer was. “I-If you’ll have me…” 

Shintarou smiled gently and put the box down to cup Seijuurou’s cheek in his hand. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t willing to take you as you are.” Honestly speaking, he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Seijuurou almost laughed, but his throat was already incredibly sore. The pain in his chest began to subside, and though the tears didn’t stop, he was crying for a different reason. He finally relaxed his shoulders and closed his eyes. “Thank you…” 

“Anything for you.” Shintarou whispered and pulled the redhead close to him. He kissed the smaller boy’s forehead and hugged him tightly. “I want you to be happy, more than anything.” 

Seijuurou sighed, finally beginning to relax. His exhaustion began to set in, and he yawned as he began to lean into the hug fully. “Don’t sacrifice yourself for me, please…”

Shintarou chuckled quietly and began to run his fingers through Seijuurou’s hair to help him fall asleep. “Don’t worry, I won’t. Right now, just rest. I’ll still be here when you wake up, and we can figure things out together.” 

Seijuurou wanted to protest the action, but eventually slipped into a blissful sleep. His heart might still be fragile and broken, but it now had support, and as long as he had that everything would be alright. 


End file.
